Last Man Standing
by Evilhippy
Summary: The Volunteer was the last man standing when he kills the Uber Ethereal. Everyone thought the Volunteer gave his life piloting the Temple Ship away from Earth to save it from the final vindictive attack of the Ethereals. Except that the Ethereals weren't trying to destroy Earth, they were activating the ships dimensional jump drive to send the Volunteer...to what lies ahead.


**Last Man Standing: A XCOM/Mass Effect Crossover**

**Chapter 1: Final Push**

The Skyranger soared through the air thousands of feet in the air heading towards the Temple Ship. There was an escort of six firestorms, three on either flank seventy five feet above and to the rear of the Skyranger. The night sky was clear and dark save for the stars and tiny sliver of moon showing and would remain dark for several hours more.

Chief Petty Officer Adam Mauer affectionately known to his squad mates as "Demon," was the leader of the four men and two women who had been chosen to assault the Temple Ship. Adam looked up from where he was readjusting the strap on his plasma rifle to his troops. To his right was Staff Sergeant Mingyu Chui the "Black Dragon," she had her eyes closed and her hands resting on her plasma sniper rifle. Next to Chui was Staff Sergeant Henry Oswald known as "Lucky Charms," he looking down at a picture of his wife Amelia, and his eight year old daughter Lizzy. Across from me was the hard eyed bastard Second Lieutenant Lian Wang the "Yeti," next to Wang sat Corporal Major Raul Moreno the "Nova." Last sitting across from Oswald and next to Moreno was Sergeant Joan Grey the "Mouse" perpetually tweaking the scope on her plasma sniper rifle.

The co-pilot sent through the squads coms, "five minutes!"

I rearranged my plasma rifle as I stood up from my uncomfortably hard seat and looked to the rest of my now standing squad. "Alright everybody," I sub vocalized through my throat mic, "you all know the mission. We land on the Temple Ship and make our way to this Uber Ethereal where we proceed to ventilate the fuckers head with extreme prejudice."

"And you can lead us in to find the Uber Ethereal, because you were the only one dumb enough to go into the Gollop Chamber, right?" Moreno said with a smart ass smirk on his face.

I smiled at the squads chuckles and said, "Yeah, I tapped into the Psionic hive mind of the Ethereals, when I concentrate I can kinda get a feel for where the bastard is."

"Two minutes!" the co-pilot yelled.

"Remember", I reminded everyone, "If we loose contact with higher we will have six hours to either get back into contact or get off the ship. After that the nuke," I said while pointing at our feet where the nine megaton thermonuclear weapon was nestled under the craft, "will automatically explode."

"One minute!" the co-pilot yelled.

The squad was formed up with Moreno and Wang up front in their titan armor and heavy plasma cannons, with Oswald and I up next plasma rifles out, followed by Grey and Chui with their plasma sniper rifles.

"Ten seconds!" the co-pilot yelled.

I felt the Skyranger touched down and before the craft had fully settled the ramp was already lowering. I braced for a barrage of plasma fire to come flying into the craft or a horde of Chryssalids to charge up the ramp but there was nothing, no welcoming party, no enemies waiting.

Once the ramp was down I gave the order to disembark, Moreno swept left while Wang swept right. We found a whole bunch of nothing, no aliens, just creepy quiet empty alien ship. The immediate area secure I sub vocalized back to the pilot and co-pilot, "immediate area is secure no signs of any alien activity, we are proceeding with the mission, Mauer out."

"Understood, and good luck, put a boot in some alien ass for us Demon" the co-pilot said.

I concentrated on the link I felt in the Gollop Chamber and I felt a sensation, almost like something was pulling me from the opposite end of the ship, so we were about to shouldered our weapons and move out when suddenly I heard...it speak.

"You hear our voice, New One, now listen well", it said, "Long have we watched…..and waited. So many promising subjects so many failed efforts. And now after untold trials, the New One emerges to face the rigors of our collective… An enduring physical form paired with an equally adept mental capacity – the rarest of traits finally within our grasp."

As quickly as the voice came to me it was gone and the rest of the squad was looking at me stopped in place looking around wildly. Chui put her hand on my right shoulder and said, "Mauer, are you alright?"

I looked at her and said, "you didn't hear that fuckers voice right now?"

Chui frowned and looked closely at my eyes said in a quiet voice, "no, no one did...did this Uber Ethereal speak to you?"

I sighed and said, "he spoke to me though my mind." I paused then continued, "I think the creepy bastard was congratulating me?" I shook my head and said, "it doesn't matter if this bastard gets his jollies off monologing, lets just find the fucker and kill it."

With that done we resumed our insertion into the Temple Ship. As I walked I cursed Dr. Shen to the deepest pits of hell for designing the psi armor, this fucking thing keeps riding up and trying to crush my nuts.

We got to one of the weird alien doors and paused for a moment and then Moreno tapped the pad to open the door and we rushed in in standard sweep formation. We were on a upraised platform with ramps to the left and right leading down to the lower sections of the room, on the opposite side of the room was another raised section with two ramps that was identical to ours. Both of the raised platforms had short half walls surrounding them that would provide decent cover.

There were two Sectoids, and a Sectoid Commander on the far platform who rushed to cover as soon as we entered the room. On the floor below the raided platforms were two Sectoids who quickly dashed behind computer consoles. While Moreno, Wang, Oswald and I took cover on our raised platform, Grey and Chui each opened fire with their plasma sniper rifles taking down the Sectoid Commander before he had a chance to even twitch. The four Sectoids began to fire rapidly at us, the two at a height disadvantage hit nothing but the ceiling as their shots went high, the other two on the platform pelted our cover keeping our heads down.

I reached out with my mind and seized control of one of the Sectoids on the far platform and gave it a brief order to shoot the Sectoid to its left. I smirked as it turned and gunned down its teammate in short order. With fire from opposing sides the other two Sectoids they had no cover and died quickly. I ordered the Sectoid to come to me as we went down the ramps.

The Sectoid obediently stood next to me in the middle of the room awaiting my orders. I drew my monomolecular knife and stepped around behind it and stabbed the Sectoid in the base of its skull severing its spinal cord, killing it instantly. I put the knife, blood and all back in its sheath. As we continued on that monologing bastard started up again.

"The New One faces the earlier effort of the Ethereal Ones, the first… failure. Though possessed of a certain brilliance…they are marred by their cowardice and frailty… which made them cruel… and ultimately useless" it said.

I sub vocalized on a private channel to Chui, "It spoke again, it was telling me about the Sectoids and how they were a failed experiment, I think these things are trying to find or create, psionics.

She gave me a look and responded, "I don't get it why would they need other psionic races? I mean they are already really powerful!"

"I don't know" I said, worry deep in my mind. I pushed it aside and focused on the mission.

We continued on our way encountering three more three man groups of Sectoids, they were quickly dispatched with only one minor burn to Wang. We entered into a larger room with several layered levels with strange points on the floor that allowed some one to jump from level to level. No sooner than we were in cover then four Mutons came at us from lower platforms on our left and right flanks.

Wang and Moreno provided suppression fire against the lead Mutons keeping their heads down behind cover. I looked at Chui and tapped my temple and pointed to the rear Muton on the right flank. She nodded and I turned to concentrate on the rear Muton on the left flank, purple streamers sprang out and sank into my Muton and it howled and then turned its plasma rifle on its partner in front of him. I heard similar howls and plasma fire on the right flank. While the Mutons started killing each other I surveyed the area and then the voice came once more.

"Now the New One confronts a greater threat. A rare strength in an easily controlled breed. And yet, they are incapable of brilliance, of independence… They will never be more than primitive warriors… serving only to fight and die as did those who came before them." It whispered in my head.

I shook my head as the voice died away like leaves on the wind. I relayed what I had learned to Chui before we moved on further into the ship.

We approached a long suspended bridge over what looks like the dark bowels of the ship there are two other bridges set lower along the right and left of us. We take the higher ground in the middle. At about the middle of the bridge six floaters, three on either side, and two heavy floaters one on either side rise out of the darkness of the ship. Already in cover we start to return fire as soon as we see them.

I sub vocalized to Chui, "take control of your Heavy Floater, I'm going to throw up a shield."

"Affirmative" she says as she throws out purple streams of psionic energy and takes control of the Heavy Floater.

I concentrate and throw out a shield around the group lessening the incoming fire. However, once the shield is up that bastard decides that the middle of a firefight is the best time to start monologing.

"The new one faces a great foe, and an equally great… disappointment. When their organic form failed to evolve, it was given the strength of a machine, creating this … merciless, fearless, killer. A fate worse than death." It says.

I snarl and reach out and take hold of the other Heavy Floater, ordering it to fire on its comrades. With the shield up and the Heavy Floaters on our side I begin firing at the remaining Floaters. With the Floaters down we dispose of the Heavy Floaters quickly and mercilessly. As the last shot is fired, I hear a quick thump thump behind us.

As I begin to turn I hear Grey and Chui screaming out in agony. I spin and see two Chryssalids attacking our snipers. Grey is screaming in pain and terror because the Chryssalid has claws sticking through her shoulder blades, with its mouth proboscis injected into her stomach. The Chryssalid attacking Chui has her on the ground with one of its bladed fore legs sliced into her lower back, its other bladed fore leg stabbed into her upper back, and it was rearing its head back with its proboscis out, preparing to inject a egg into her.

I lash out with my psionics and hurl the Chryssalid off of Chui throwing it into the dark abyss of the ship. The Chryssalid drops Grey, who is now thrashing in shock, and gives me a left handed slash with its claws, and I jerk back and its claws scrap off my armor leaving my throat numb and trashing my mic. I fall backwards onto the ground and Oswald strides forward and opens up on the Chryssalid with his plasma rifle forcing it back. Four more shots from Oswald"s plasma rifle put the Chryssalid down for good. I stand up quickly and draw my laser pistol and shoot Grey's twitching and jerking corpse eight times in the chest right where the proboscis went in. Her corpse lays still.

After several watchful seconds waiting for Grey to get back up or explode into a Chryssalid, I move to check on Chui. Chui is laying on her stomach groaning softly bleeding from a wound to her lower back, right above her pelvic bone. I let Oswald, the certified medic step past to treat her. I put Wang and Moreno on watch while I remove Grey's dog tags, plasma pistol, and all her extra energy cells.

"Fucking Chryssalids," Moreno said quietly. "No worse way to die" He does a quick catholic cross on his chest. I close Grey's glassy eyes and stand up.

I look over at Oswald and raise my eyebrows at him. He looks at me then down to Chui and he says "its bad boss, fucking Chryssalid got her right through the L2, L3, and L4 vertebrae. She won't be walking ever again, and when you ripped it off her it broke off part of its leg blade in her upper back...its real close to her heart boss I can't even imagine trying to take it out without killing her."

I head that fucking slimy voice in my head again. It said, "A curious endeavor… the search for the Gift in the most unsavory of beings. They were little more than insects when their uplift began. And in their failure… became the most dangerous of predators incapable of direction, understanding they were deemed fit only to breed and die." I snarled in my head, who the fuck does this thing think it fucking is, a bond villain or some bullshit?

I looked Chui over quickly and said "can we mover her without killing her?"

Oswald frowned deeply and said in grim determination "not with the gear we have on us, we jostle her and the claw tip could cut her heart open and she'd bleed to death."

We couldn't move her without a stretcher without killing her, we can't go back and split the remaining squad to get one from the Skyranger, can't move her in a firemans carry, we leave her here and another Chryssalid will home in on her spilled blood and kill her, that only left...

"Then we have no choice," I said "We move her and she dies, we leave her and she dies, I leave one of you here and we fail the mission...and the mission comes first." Oswald's frown increased, and Moreno swore under his breath while Wang just swept his weapon back and forth watching everything in his area. I drew my Laser pistol and pointed it at Chui's forehead, god damn the Ethereals I thought as I pulled the trigger and shot her in the head. I quickly reached over and took her dog tags and her extra energy cells and grenades. On an impulse I grabbed her plasma sniper rifle and slung it over my shoulder. I nodded at everyone and said in a hard voice, "lets go."

We encountered another group of Sectoids that we quickly dispatched before moving onto another long bridge. This one had two bridges running parallel to it, I didn't like the look of it. I tapped Oswald on the shoulder and said, "watch the ceiling for Chryssalids, I don't want another surprise dropping on us." He nodded his head and we moved out along the bridge taking cover as it was provided.

I caught the movement of Thin Men dashing into place along the bridges to either side of us. Eight on either side in a perfect pincer formation. Plasma started to splash all over our cover pinning us in position. I yelled, "Moreno, shield!"

After a second a shimmering purple shield appeared over our positions. I peaked over my cover and snatched control of a Thin Man and dropped back behind cover narrowly avoiding a plasma bolt. I pulled a plasma grenade and expertly hurled it over my cover into my group of Thin Men. The grenade exploded in a wash of plasma and the screams of the melting Thin Men filled me with pleasure. I popped up and put a plasma round into a disoriented Thin Man whose cover I blew apart. I pivoted to the right and put two plasma rounds into another Then Man then ducked down back into cover.

I heard another plasma explosion behind me and I popped back up and put a single round through the face of my controlled Thin Man. The far bridge was awash in noxious poison clouds but all the Thin Men were down. I yelled "clear!"

Several seconds later I heard Moreno yell "clear!" I cautiously stood up and checked the squad out, Wang and Oswald both had plasma burns on their armor but the wounds were minor. I pretended to look around for further enemies and waited for the Uber Douche to start up and it didn't take long.

The thing said, "A valiant effort… a being of intelligence and exceptional loyalty, easily adapted to serve our needs. Still despite such great hopes…" I was so pissed at having to listen to this asshole I just focused my anger into my psionics and tried to...push the voice out, and it fucking worked! The voice cut out immediately and I sighed in relief.

I said, "alright nap times over lets move." We set out once again further into the ship. As we walked I pulled out a stim and injected it into my neck and I felt the cool rush as my psionic fatigue fall away. I put the injector away and we stepped into a large room. There was a ramp on the left and right that led down and a large balcony about twenty feet in front of us. Past the balcony I saw a long open room with eight large pillars running down the middle. And the tell tale mechanical whirling and stomping of not one but two Sectopods. Two of the fucking bastards I snarled in my head.

The squad looked at me with cold determination and I pointed at Moreno and Wang and tapped their blaster launchers. I then pointed at a spot pulled back from the cover of the balcony where they couldn't be seen from the ground from in the pillared room. I gave Moreno and Wang the signal for one volley then plasma cannons. I then looked at Oswald and made a hand motion for him to take the right ramp and tapped his plasma grenades followed by his plasma rifle he nodded. I looked at the squad and whispered in the barest of breaths, "on my signal." And we were off.

I ghosted over down the left ramp while putting my plasma rifle up and pulling out Chui's plasma sniper rifle. This one is for you Chui...I gave a silent snort at the rhyme.

I pulled the sniper rifle up to my shoulder and went over the plan in my head. Ease out and fire the sniper rifle at the Sectopod then quickly pull back behind cover. Blaster launchers fire, thump thump of plasma grenade hitting the deck followed by a triple explosion. Then I lean back out and follow up with a Rift while Moreno and Wang open up with the plasma cannons. Its gonna be easy, my asshole totally isn't suctioned to my armor.

So I lean out nice and slow with the sniper rifle, and through my scope I see the Sectopod set up and ready to fire looking directly at me. Ah Murphy my old friend. I fired the sniper rifle directly into the Sectopod and then just as it fired I flung myself back and down and the world was blinded with white and pain.

I came back to the world and heard a great ringing in my ears and upon trying to open my eyes realized I couldn't. I heard the whoosh whoosh of plasma cannons vaguely to my right or left or some shit direction that way. I suddenly realized I was lying with by back to a wall. I kept trying to take my helmet off so I could clear my eyes of what ever was in them but my left hand was absolutely numb and I think I broke two finger on my right. After ten seconds of vainly trying to get my helmet off I decided that my squad didn't have time for this I so carefully attempted to remove my helmet using my psionic telekinesis. Instead of a careful application of telekinesis to unsnap my helmet, I violently ripped the helmet off my head and screamed when it felt like my skin and hair came off with it. I howled in agony and then slumped to the side passing out.

* * *

I was looking down at my body, it wasn't a pretty sight. The left side of my torso armor is melted, and where my left arm would be there is only a one inch melted stump protruding from my shoulder. My scalp is nothing but a red mass of raw flesh and the left side of my face is badly burned, my left eye is totally gone, fused into a mass of melted flesh. My pinky and ring finger on my right hand are both broken, snapped all the way back to the wrist. Chui's plasma sniper rifle was lying on the ground next to me.

That was when I noticed the silver thread coming from my broken bodies chest, it lead strait into my chest. When I looked down at the silver thread in my chest I realized that I was slightly translucent...oh holy shit am I dead? I start to panic but then I notice that my beaten down body is still breathing...barely. So...what the fuck, was I having an out of body experience? What is with the silver thread connecting me to...er me? Is this some new psionic ability I have? Also why is body so wounded and yet this body, the translucent one was whole and well? I turned to look around and I saw that one Sectopod was down while the other was launching rockets at the balcony. I frowned and wondered if I could still use my psionic abilities. I glared at the Sectopod and tried to form a Rift like I was originally intending to do before Murphy said hello. Nothing, no rift not even a ripple, I tried to throw up a shield around my squad, nothing. Dammit I thought, I looked up to the balcony and knew I had to get up there, to see how my squad was doing.

When I thought about wanting to go up to my squad mates on the balcony suddenly my feet left the ground and I was floating through the air at about twice as fast as a sprint. I floated through the floor of the balcony and suddenly I was though through the floor and standing next to the remains of Wang and Moreno. I looked down in anguish at my dead squad mates, Wang was in two pieces, it looked like a Sectopod beam hit him in the left hip and the continued all the way through the right shoulder blade, he died instantly at least. Moreno must have taken a dozen hits from the micro rockets and tried to drag himself away before he bleed out near the door. I saw Oswald behind a wall next to the ramp holding Moreno's plasma cannon swearing continuously at the Sectopod. His eyes were wide and angry and scared, he looked over to the ramp well that I had taken to get to the ground floor. I reached out with my mind and attempted to use my telepathy to calm him and reinforce his mind, I was surprised when I saw purple transparent streamers travel from my right arm into his chest. His eyes cleared, and breathing slowed and I could tell my calming had an immediate affect on him. Well at least something works in crazy not-ghost ghost land.

Once the Sectopod fired its main cannon Oswald quickly sprinted across to the ramp well that I went down and proceeded to make his way to my body. I followed him and he quickly knelt down next to my body and pulled out a med injector and two combat stim injectors. He stuck the med injector directly into my left arm stump and I couldn't help but wince at what I knew would have hurt if I could have felt it. He then checked my pupils and pulse, then he stuck me in the neck with the first combat stim injector. He checked my pulse and pupils again then shook his head and hit me with his last combat stim injector in the neck. Experimenting I put my hand on my chest and...

* * *

I jerked awake and smashed my head against the back of the wall. I groaned "ah fuck" as I opened my eye and looked up at a Oswald who had a grim smile on his face. I groaned inwardly, holy fuck everything hurts, especially my face and head...oddly enough not my left arm.

Oswald put a finger to my lips and pointed overt to the corner where I could hear the the Sectopod shuffling around. I nodded and tried to push myself up but my damn left are kept missing the wall, then I looked down and realized that's because I'm a dumb ass and don't have a left arm. I used my right arm to push my self up and looked down at my helmet. It was melted beyond repair and had my melted hair and scalp connected to the top of it along with a fair amount of my flesh from the left side of my face. Yeah that's not gross at all.

I steadied myself and peaked around the corner and tried to use the Rift ability I learned from the Ethereal hive mind. Suddenly a vortex of purple psionic energy began to swirl around the badly damaged Sectopod. I heard metal groaning and mechanical dark fluid began to spew from stressed robotic joints. Suddenly its right leg snapped in half and it fell to the floor and my Rift began to stress its its main body and then it exploded. The Rift kept up for a few moments more then dissipated. The floor was torn in several places and two of the pillars had large chunks missing from them. I looked over at Oswald and gave him a tired grin. He nodded and we both went up to our fallen squad mates. I pulled Moreno's dog tags off him and closed his eyes, then I went over to Wang's body but his dog tag were destroyed when the beam cut across him. I closed Wang's eyes and pulled his single combat stim off him. I tried to stand back up but my head spun and I knelt back down.

Oswald said in a quiet voice, "can you finish the mission Adam?" I looked up at him and said "do you have any more med injectors or combat stims?"

Oswald said "I have a single med stim and two combat stims." I held my hand out and he hesitated and said, "you known taking more than three combat stims is dangerous."

I closed my eyes and concentrated on how far the Uber Ethereal was. I gave a toothy grin as I felt the bastard not less than a hundred yards away.

I said in a as clear a voice as I could manage, which wasn't very since my roasted throat sounded like a sixty year old chain smoker, "the leader Ethereal is less than a hundred yards that way I just need to stay on my feet with a clear head long enough to kill that prick then you can drag my well done over dosing ass out of here."

He nodded his head and gave me the last med stim and the two combat stims. I injected the med stim directly into my jugular to helm stabilize my body quickly. And then I took the last two combat stims and injected them both, one after the other directly into my jugular as well. You not supposed to put combat stims directly into your jugular as the drugs get to your blood stream and then to your heart too quickly and can cause you to have a heart attack, or a stroke. With that said putting it directly into the jugular also gives you best bang for your buck. It acts faster and has a greater affect on your body. And since it isn't having to go through your fatty tissues it last longer as well. It has ups and downs. But I haven't come this far and been through all this shit just to die like a pussy from a heart attack.

I look to Oswald and say "alright I'm ready to plant my boot in some Ethereal ass lets move." I pick up Moreno's blaster launcher on the way down the ramp move towards the far end of the pillared hall.

Suddenly two Elite Mutons appear out of thin air at the top of the platform in front of the door we have to go through. I slid up to the last pillar while Oswald does the same. The Elites begin firing down at us from their cover and all Oswald can do is stick the plasma cannon around the pillar and blind fire at them. So I reach out and try to take control of Elite number one and it snarls as it resists my grip on its mind. I narrow my eyes fine, lets try this the old fashioned way. I pull my second to last plasma grenade and say to Oswald "grenade on two, then hit the left one"

I toss the grenade around the corner and bounce it off the door. It lands right in between the two Elites. They both begin to roll away from the plasma grenade as it explodes. They get caught in the outside wake of the plasma, and before the left one and get into new cover Oswald puts five rounds of plasma cannon fire into its chest. I propel a bolt of mind fraying psi energy strait into the Elite on the right. It staggers him and before he can recover I lash out with my mind control and grab control of him.

The other Elite down I walk up to my controlled Elite and pull Grey's plasma pistol. I command the Elite to its knees, it drops to its knees, I command it to remove its helmet, it removes its helmet. I put the barrel of the plasma pistol under its chin pointed towards its brain and pull the trigger. The Elite drops to the ground and I shoot it until its head is a smoking mess.

I make sure all my weapons are reloaded and I filch the plasma grenade the Elite had and put it in my bandoleer. I looked over to Oswald and he nods his, head plasma cannon reloaded and at the ready. I heft the blaster launcher, and we step through the door way and quickly move to cover. We look over the wall and see four Elite Mutons, two Ethereals on the left and right on raised platforms and finally the Uber Ethereal on the highest platform in an ornate headdress.

The Uber Ethereal's voice echoes within my mind again, "Behold the greatest failure… of the Ethereal Ones… who failed to ascend as they thought we would. We who were cast out. We who were doomed to feed on the Gift of lesser beings… as we sought to uplift them… to prepare them… for what lies ahead."

I thank god that the long winded bastard was monologing long enough for me to aim the missile launcher with one hand. It wound have been damn near impossible without bracing it on my cover but I got it done before he was finished. I pointed the laser designator of the blaster launcher at the wall near the long winded bastards feet, so I can catch two of the Elites in the blast as well. Just as he utters the last words I launch the missile and then drop the now empty launcher. Oswald opens up on the left Ethereal with the plasma cannon, while I draw a plasma grenade.

The missile explodes as I am reaching for the grenade. The Uber Ethereal's psionic barrier takes the brunt of the missile while the shockwave knocks the two Elites down to the ground. I quickly fling the plasma grenade at the Uber Ethereal, it strikes him in the chest and falls to the ground, unprimed. I duck a lance of psi energy and several plasma bolts. I draw my plasma rifle and pop up send a burst of psi panic into one of the two still standing Elites. It howls and starts shooting one of the Elites starting to stand back up from where my missile knocked it down. With the Elites dispatching its crazed bretheren, I turn my attention back towards the Ethereal just as it hurls a bolt of psi energy into Oswald.

Oswald jerks and then his eyes glow purple and he starts to turn towards me. I turn and flick the plasma cannon out of his hands using my telekinesis, he lunges at me instead. I don't even try to bother lifting the plasma rifle up in time, I drop it and attempt to sweep his legs out from under him but he twist and takes the leg strike on his shin guard. He is going to kick my ass I thought, he may be a puppet but before he was XCOM, he was SAS and they are fucking good.

He jabs out with his right hand and I parry it with mine, but the jab was a feint and he grabs by arm as I was parrying his fient strike. I would have normally responded with a counter strike with my other hand...but you know. He tries to twist me around to put me in a lock, knowing I can't resist him with one arm, I go with the twist and pivot putting my heavy booted left foot strait into his jaw, I felt the jaw break as my boot hits it.

Fortunately while this breaks his hold on my arm it, I don't get the opportunity to capitalize on it as I get hit in the right side by a lance of psi energy and thrown to the ground, my burned stump grinding painfully on the harsh metal floor and I sink my teeth down onto my tongue fighting for consciousness. However, as I attempt to draw my plasma pistol Oswald slams into me and knocks it out of my hands. Oswald is on top of me with both of his huge meaty hands around my neck squeezing. If my armor wasn't half slagged from the Sectopod it his hands wouldn't have been much of an issue, however that wasn't the case. He kept squeezing tighter and tighter and I could feel my hyoid bone starting to break. I couldn't get any leverage with my one arm with him on top of me.

So I reached my thigh sheath for my second mono knife and pulled it. I then buried it in his groin and pulled upward, parting his pelvic bone, slicing through his small and large intestines, cutting straight through his sternum and throat and then burying it in his skull. His body spasmed and then went still.

I saw a Elite Muton pounding up the ramp, not six foot from me. I quickly reached out to Oswald's bandoleer and activated his last remaining plasma grenade and used my telekinesis to hurl him off me and strait into the Elite, spraying Oswald's guts in a wide arc. Oswald's corpse hit the Elite and pushed him back and as the Elite put his back right foot down to regain his balance he slipped and the gore filled floor and slid down the ramp into his fellow two Elites. Then the grenade went off.

I drew my last plasma grenade and armed it then stood up to the surprised look of the Ethereal that made my kill my friend. I waited a half second then threw the grenade in a underhanded toss to the Ethereal. It exploded in flight, two feet away from the mind controlling fuck. It blew the thing off its platform and I heard a satisfying squish as it hit the ground.

The Uber Ethereal attempted to seize my mind from me but I dug into my anger and rage and battered his attempt aside. The only surviving heavily wounded Elite stood up, wheezing and blowing blood and I promptly drew my laser pistol and shot him in the head, downing him in one shot.

I opened my unending well of hatred that I kept sealed away so as to focus on the mission without self destructing.

A well of anger built on the hundreds of millions of lost souls when the Chryssalids consumed Africa, then Russia, then the rest of Europe, and then the deathblow when North America and China both fell simultaneously to the Chryssalid hordes.

A well of loathing filled when the council was taken over from within.

A well of rage overflowing when Grey, Chui, Moreno, Wang, Oswald, Woods, Anders, Wilson and the hundreds of other XCOM troops were fed into the alien meat grinder.

A well of incandescent fury exploding when my family was butchered by a Chryssalid horde.

The Uber Ethereal spoke, "The hunt draws to a close. It was not a vain undertaking… but a necessity, as our physical form has grown… ineffective. Our search for..."I interrupted him "SHUT THE FUCK UP AND DIE!"

I screamed in wordless apocalyptic fury and unleashed all of my psionic power into the largest Rift I could create, centered directly on him.

I felt blood rolling down from my eyes, noes, ears, and mouth as I gave this last final push all I had, everything I had left I put into this attack. A Rift tore into existence with the Uber Ethereal right in the middle of it. The metal of the ship groaned and tore loose and the Rift shredded everything it came into contact with. The Uber Ethereal had all four of its hands out furiously trying to hold its psionic shield in place against the maelstrom he was caught in. The Rift grew larger and expanded ripping bulk heads out tearing out computers from their mounts shredding everything it pulled in. The Uber Ethereal was weakening, I could see its veins sticking out and it desperately tried to hold back oblivion. The Rift grew more and more, it was nearly four times its normal size and then the Uber Ethereal screamed out, "This is not your path! Not your purpose! You need our guidance to hone this power… without us, what are you?"

I pointed my laser pistol at its head and said in a dead calm as I pulled the trigger, "Human."


End file.
